The Forty 4-4-0s Club

THE Forty 4-4-0s Club was set up to help finance the casting and machining of the four 6ft 8½in driving wheels for No. 3840 County of Montgomery, which have been cast by Trefoil Steel in Sheffield.

The four coupled wheels were cast thanks to the Great Western Society, which kindly released the wooden wheel pattern used to cast the wheels for ‘Saint’ 4-6-0 No. 2999 Lady of Legend; these being identical to those of the Churchward ‘Counties’.

Each wheel has been made of high quality cast steel, with those for the leading axle differing slightly from those of the trailing wheelset. This is because the ‘Counties’, like the ‘Saints’, had two different designs of wheel; the leading driven wheels having a 5¾in centre boss and the rear wheels a 4¾in centre boss. The pattern, as loaned, had the smaller boss, and therefore the first two wheels for No. 3840 were cast from the pattern as it came, but it was then altered to allow for the larger 5¾in boss.

To meet these costs the CCT invited people to join its Forty 4-4-0s Club, which allowed supporters to ‘adopt’ one (or more) of the original 40 ‘County’ 4-4-0s, which were all named after British and Irish counties with which the GWR had connections, albeit obscure connections in some cases.

Membership of the Forty 4-4-0s Club was set at £1,000 (payable in one lump sum or in eight payments of £125 by standing order), and came with a string of incentives including:

 

    • An invitation to the launch of County of Montgomery
    • A seat on the locomotive’s first train
    • A special certificate acknowledging the ‘County’ being adopted
    • A framed and mounted photograph of the ‘County’ being adopted
    • A mounted print of No. 3840 by artist Jonathan Clay
    • Your name on Roll of Honour
    • Life membership of the CCT

 

As of April 2023 the Forty 4-4-0s Club is fully subscribed, having reached its £40,000 target.

The full list of ‘Counties’ adopted are as follows:

3800 County of Middlesex – Adopted by D Castle

3801 County Carlow – Adopted by R Chapman

3802 County Clare – Adopted by P Day

3803 County Cork – Adopted by Dr C Crocker

3804 County Dublin – Adopted by P Day

3805 County Kerry – Adopted by D Tunbridge

3806 County Kildare – Adopted by P Casey

3807 County Kilkenny – Adopted by C Chaney

3808 County Limerick – Adopted by I Townson

3809 County Wexford – Adopted by D Hancox

3810 County Wicklow – Adopted by G Boyd-Hope

3811 County of Bucks – Adopted by R Wyatt

3812 County of Cardigan – Adopted by S Lloyd

3813 County of Carmarthen – Adopted by R Lailey

3814 County of Chester – Adopted by J Langley

3815 County of Hants – Adopted by S Davies

3816 County of Leicester – Adopted by G Boyd-Hope

3817 County of Monmouth – Adopted by J Churchward

3818 County of Radnor – Adopted by D Castle

3819 County of Salop – Adopted by D Tunbridge

3820 County of Worcester – Adopted by A Turner

3821 County of Bedford – Adopted by P Gomm

3822 County of Brecon – Adopted by J Pearse

3823 County of Carnarvon – Adopted by A Shepherd

3824 County of Cornwall – Adopted by J D Webber

3825 County of Denbigh – Adopted by N Wellings

3826 County of Flint – Adopted by P R Williams

3827 County of Gloucester – Adopted by G Rose

3828 County of Hereford – Adopted by P Stanton

3829 County of Merioneth – Adopted by I Handley

3830 County of Oxford – Adopted by T Willcox

3831 County of Berks – Adopted by C Chaney

3832 County of Wilts – Adopted by P Bamber

3833 County of Dorset – Adopted by R Chapman

3834 County of Somerset – Adopted by R Croucher

3835 County of Devon – Adopted by B Hillier

3836 County of Warwick – Adopted by D Hancox

3837 County of Stafford – Adopted by N Harding

3838 County of Glamorgan – Adopted by J Couchman

3839 County of Pembroke – Adopted by P Day

 

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